Curator & Coach - Week 6

Curator Sam Burnham
​Game of the Week
​Tennessee @ Georgia

At the risk of sounding like a homer I’m going with a Georgia game this week. I’m picking this match up because of three factors: 1) Georgia’s outstanding defense 2) Tennessee’s opportunity to prove they are indeed “back” 3) The Prince of Pierce, Stetson Bennett IV.

​Georgia’s defense is giving up 8 points per game while posting 5 sacks and 4 interceptions. They’re giving up only 58 rushing yards per game. The effort on the defensive side of the ball has allowed the Dawgs to out-gain their opponents almost 2-1. This defense kept them in the game at Arkansas until the correct call was made to put Bennett in at quarterback. More on that later.

Tennessee has had several rough years with include Derek Dooley’s orange pants, Lane Kiffin daydreaming about singing Rocky Top, and a bizarre trash can ritual. Jeremy Pruitt is working on a renaissance in Knoxville. They ride the nation’s longest win streak into Athens this week. But they aren’t playing Missouri or South Carolina. If they are to prove themselves, beating Georgia would be a way to make a statement.

Stetson Bennett IV trotted into the field in Fayetteville and took over the UGA offense. This guy is a man of the people. Straight out of Blackshear he laid a thumping on rival Auburn and then may or may not have enjoyed a bit of Red Man to celebrate the win. Listed at 5-11, 190, Bennett is too short, too small, and not athletic enough to play quarterback at Georgia. But the former walk-on is doing it anyway how could I not pick that this week?

Coach Drew Burnham
​Game of the Week
Alabama @ Ole Miss

​I bet y’all thought I was going to go with the flash of the top team in the Nation against a rejuvenated and trending Miami squad. Or maybe you thought I’d lean towards the Battle of the Saban assistants between the Dawgs and Vols? Those are the obvious candidates, but they’re not why I love college football with every ounce of my being. My infatuation with this beautiful level of the greatest sport in the world is much more personal than that. It’s about relationships, people, connections and passion. That’s why I love it and, trust me, nowhere...and I mean nowhere in the country will you find a more quirky relationship between two more opposite people with a connection loathed by one and so dearly loved by the other than in Oxford on Saturday.

Nick Saban wakes up every morning and sips his coffee on the deck of the lake house in Tuscaloosa. Then he spills a little down his front to punish himself for another day of secretly loving Lane Kiffin. I believe he genuinely hates how much he loves the guy. He goes against everything Saban stands for. Their styles could not be more different. As Saban hits the pants with a Tide pen, less than 3 hours up the road Kiffin is scheming a solid tweet to poke fun at the man who took him in when many others had written him off as a troubled genius. I love this relationship more than any other in the country right now, and you should too.

However, much to Kiffin's dismay, those two will not be the ones going toe to toe between the lines on Saturday. On paper, there shouldn’t be much to this one. Alabama is the far superior team. Saban is 20-0 against former assistants in his career, averaging a 42-15 score in those games. This one should be same ole same ole for the Tide….BUT, the Rebs can SCORE. Kiffin has never found trouble collecting points. As quirky as he may be, he’s a certified mastermind. Nowhere in the sport, on any level, will you find a play caller more versed in moving his stars into position to create mismatches against defenders and capitalizing on them. WR Elijah Moore will line up all over the field and will undoubtedly cause some problems for the Bama defense. I think the Tide wins, but they may have to score 50 to do it.